Here is a Hyundai Ioniq Electric with 438,000 km on the odometer. Another proof that electric cars are the Mercedes-Benz equivalents.

The ForoCochesElectricos portal described the case of a taxi driver who uses a Hyundai Ioniq Electric. The vehicle currently has over 438,000 kilometers on the odometer, with its battery degradation at less than 12 percent. This is excellent news for its owner, as the first generation of this model came equipped with a battery pack holding only 30.5 (~26) kWh, and it was solely the car’s exceptional energy efficiency that allowed it to cover up to 200 kilometers per charge.

A Hyundai Ioniq Electric as a taxi. Very different from the Leaf

The Hyundai Ioniq Electric has not been produced for years, but it gave its name to the entire Ioniq model line. The car was innovative in many ways: it used a universal platform, allowing it to be produced in a gasoline (hybrid) version, it was optimized for aerodynamics, had a record-low energy consumption (only surpassed by the Tesla Model 3 RWD), and its battery was cooled by liquid. A drawback was the use of NCM111 cells, which were expensive (33 percent cobalt in the cathodes) and had low energy density.

However, the combination of low energy density and liquid cooling yielded exceptional results in terms of longevity. The car described by ForoCochesElectricos still has its original battery. Used as a taxi in urban traffic, the Ioniq Electric continues to offer over 200 kilometers of real-world range. The degradation reported by the BMS is only 11.8 percent, with a voltage variation across the Li-ion cells at an 80.5 percent charged battery being just 0.02 V, which is very low.

It would be interesting to see these figures with the battery discharged to, say, 5 percent, because age and wear are most evident at the end of the discharge curve.

The taxi driver claims he empties the vehicle by 10 percent once a month, then fills it up to capacity so that the battery management system can assess cell wear. Given its limited range, he must recharge it at fast chargers at least once a day. For such usage, the car is in excellent condition. He previously drove a Nissan Leaf, but after 354,000 kilometers, its degradation exceeded 33 percent and the range dropped to 60 kilometers — requiring a replacement battery pack from an electrician.

Editor’s note from Elektrowozu: here is another car with Li-ion cells from the same supplier, showing 8 percent degradation after over 500,000 kilometers of use.

Article rating

Reader ratings

[Total: 5 votes Average: 3.8]

Don’t miss new content—CLICK and FOLLOW Elektrowoz.pl on Google News. You might also be interested in the following ads: